Potters pound Polar Bears, 65-12

September 16, 2012

EAST LIVERPOOL - The Potters had a coming out party at the expense of the Polar Bears.

East Liverpool, having won only once in its last 15 games, put a pounding on Toledo Woodward Saturday at Patterson Field, 65-12.

It was the fourth highest point output by East Liverpool in school history. For Woodward, the loss extended their streak of futility to 47 straight games dating back to the 2007 season.

Article Photos

East Liverpool's John Miscuk isn't slowed by a face mask from Woodward's Darryl Bebley on Saturday at Patterson Field. (Photo courtesy of Jimmy Joe Savage)

"I'm just so happy for the kids," an emotional East Liverpool coach Rick Prescott said following the game. "It's been a long time coming. My emotions are for them. It's hard to keep telling these kids that their hard work will pay off with a win and then keep coming up short. Obviously, we're not done and we have more goals to accomplish, but this was a great start."

The Potters dominated every aspect of the game from the opening kickoff to the final whistle. East Liverpool racked up 412 yards of offense on 93 plays compared to 231 yards for the Polar Bears on just 32 snaps. The Potters' Stefan Yoho was one of the many stars of the show. The senior tailback finished with 173 yards on 13 carries with four touchdowns.

"When we lose, it really hurts and that's a good thing," Prescott said. "That shows how much the kids have invested in this team. So, on the opposite end, getting a win feels that much better because of all the dedication they've shown."

The Division II Polar Bears, who had only 28 players in uniform, were outmatched from the get-go.

After a three-and-out on the opening possession by Woodward, East Liverpool found the end zone in just two plays, both runs by Stefan Yoho. The second was a 30-yard scoring run putting the Potters up, 7-0, with 8:47 left in the opening frame.

After recovering a Polar Bears' fumble, the first of three they would lose, the Potters capitalized when Kade Reynolds found the edge and reached paydirt from nine yards out.

But the Potters weren't even close to being done.

Yoho scored again, this time on an 8-yard dash, and the Potters' Brent Waggle recovered the ensuing kickoff when John Rickerd caused a fumble with a big hit along the sideline.

Three plays later and the Potters were back in the end zone again. This time it was D.J. Austin hauling in a 22-yard pass from Reynolds giving East Liverpool a 25-0 lead with two minutes left in the first quarter.

On the very first play of the second frame, East Liverpool's Zack English intercepted a pass from Woodward's Andres Rojas and returned it 61 yards for a touchdown.

"We've played with confidence at times this season already," Prescott said. "But we needed a game like this to support that confidence."

The Polar Bears would finally get on the scoreboard when Mordecai Brownlee burst through the East Liverpool line for a 51-yard scoring run with 9:34 left before the half. Brownlee was the lone bright spot for Woodward as he finished with 161 yards and two scores on 18 carries.

Yoho extended the Potters' advantage to 38-6 with a six-yard touchdown run with 7:03 left in the first half.

East Liverpool had one more score up its sleeve before halftime as Rickerd ran in from four yards out with 1:07 left to go. That score was set up by an Austin interception.

English also picked off a pass with under a minute to play, but the Potters took a knee and a 45-6 lead into the locker room.

The East Liverpool starters played one more series on each side of the ball in the second half which proved to be more than enough time to put extra points on the board.

Yoho scored his fourth touchdown of the game on the opening drive from 19 yards out, and on the next series Queyshawn Sallis returned Rojas' third interception of the game 35 yards for another score. The lead now ballooned to 58-6 with 8:29 to go in the third quarter.

Rojas fumbled on the Polar Bears' next possession and Corey Monteiro was there for the recovery. That set up a 3-yard touchdown run by Michael Oates putting the score at 65-6 with two minutes left in the third.

The game's final points came on a 15-yard scoring run by Woodward's Brownlee in the fourth quarter putting the score at its final, 65-12.

"Our kids should be excited," Prescott said. "They deserve this. We've been close week in and week out and we've been better week by week. I'm hoping this will catapault us into a good week of practice and a good performance next week."

The Potters will play at John Marshall on Sept. 21. The Monarchs won their first game since 2010 on Friday, 48-12.